Composable architecture: more flexibility, more complexity, and how to monitor it

For a long time, monolithic architecture, where everything resides in a single structure, was the standard. However, as needs evolve and specialised solutions proliferate, a new approach makes sense: composable architecture. You then have to ask: how do you find your way through it, and more importantly, how do you monitor it effectively? How can you tell if your users are experiencing issues with the application and where those issues originate?

What is composable architecture?

Simply put, composable architecture involves building applications by assembling components. These components represent software or online solutions, each designed to address a specific need professionally and efficiently. The objective is to provide a service with a seamless, simple, and enjoyable user experience, without the user having to worry about the internal complexity.
Imagine a gourmet dish. It isn’t made from a single ingredient it’s composed of several carefully prepared elements that come together to create a delicious whole. Composable architecture applies the same principle.

The challenge of monitoring: beyond the monolith

Monitoring a monolithic application can seem straightforward: logs and probes are relatively easy to set up and analyse, and a single probe may suffice to “see everything.”
With composable architecture, it becomes much harder to answer questions such as: what really caused the issue?

• Is it the main application interacting with the user?
• Is it an external component behind the application?
• Or is it another upstream component?

Identifying the source of a malfunction can become like looking for a needle in a haystack. There are many potential disruptors: slow performance, errors, loss of connections, and so on.

Consider a classic shopping cart scenario. Your customer is stuck: the page crashes preventing them from completing checkout. Possible causes include:

• A UI problem, where clicking the “submit” button has no effect.
• An application-level issue, such as an alert triggered by incorrect product or pricing validation.
• A delivery fee calculation error, caused by an external API.
• Or, more subtly, the API works but returns inconsistent data, which again locks the system.

So, how do you monitor a composable architecture

Fortunately, there are solutions out there! While more complex to implement, they provide you with high-resolution visibility where the performance of your applications is concerned. Possible approaches include:

• APM (Application Performance Monitoring): these solutions deploy smart probes that collect and aggregate data, correlate information across components, identify bottlenecks, and provide alerts.
• Open-source solutions: a DIY approach can centralise logs and messages from each component. While it requires significant investment in automation and management, it can be more cost-effective than licensed systems.
• Centralisation and correlation: regardless of the solution, the key is centralising and correlating data. You need to reconstruct the path of a request from start to finish, across all the components involved.

Summary: extra effort for optimum visibility

Composable architecture is a powerful and relevant approach when working with specialised solutions and aiming for an exceptional user experience. Monitoring these architectures is possible but requires additional effort.

At Kaliop, we have extensive experience tackling these challenges. We can help you implement effective monitoring for composable applications. By default, we deploy a system for generalised log collection in a server such as Elasticsearch, making it queryable via Grafana. This solution allows the requesting of logs and creation of highly customisable dashboards, which can then serve as the basis for highly useful alert configurations.
This open-source approach is highly effective. Additionally, we have strong expertise with the leading APM solutions on the market, including New Relic, Datadog, Splunk, Dynatrace, Instana, and others.

Want to learn more? Get in touch!